Lobbyists see silver lining on ethics

Lobbyists reacted with aplomb to the new lobbying reform bill Congress passed last week and downplayed the idea that it will dramatically transform how business is done in Washington.

To be sure, the expensive and exclusive private dinners or charter plane rides pairing lawmakers with lobbyists are now a thing of the past. But some lobbyists believe the new reporting requirements will prompt mid-size companies to outsource more of their advocacy work to lobbying shops rather than risk making mistakes that could lead to scandalous results and six-figure fines.

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And the lawyers are already discovering some loopholes. Lawmakers and lobbyists will still be able to attend the same receptions – with free finger food – as long as a relatively large and mixed crowd is also invited to the event.

Even the much ballyhooed new requirement that lawmakers disclose their earmarks – special items inserted into budget bills – hardly caused a ripple in a community bracing for reforms after a string of guilty pleas and ongoing investigations that tarnished its own image as much as the Congress.

“I think they are very reasonable changes that will make the process better for everybody. I think it does make it clear that it has to be a more transparent process. It needs to be a better vetted process and the money’s that spent is spent on valuable purposes,” said Stewart Van Scoyoc, president of Van Scoyoc Associates, which specializes in earmarks.

Van Scoyoc said the number of earmarks has been declining for the past two years – when earmark corruption stories and tough anti-pork talk began – and this bill would continue that trend. “We’ve had to lower client expectations,” he said.

Some of the new rules may work to lobbyists’ advantage. A new requirement that CEOs must certify that their lobbyists have not violated the bill’s gift bans is the provision that some say could prompt corporations to hire outsiders rather than bother trying to comply with the new rules. Van Scoyoc has already started beefing up his shop’s compliance program.

The gift bans will hurt Washington’s sports franchises because lobbyists can no longer gobble up tickets to take members and staffers to games, Van Scoyoc said. His firm has spent tens of thousands of dollars on sports tickets over the last decade. The gift bans push most outside-the-Capitol conversations to political fundraisers, which have little to do with policy.

Brian Pallasch, president of the American League of Lobbyists, applauded several of the bill’s provisions including mandatory electronic disclosure of lobbying activity and requiring lawmakers to report who has raised money on their behalf.

But with more to disclose, the trade group worries the 20-day turnaround time for disclosures, shortened from 45 days, is not enough. The question that remains is how harsh the penalties will be for paperwork mistakes, Pallasch said.

Some of the new disclosure requirements duplicate information lobbyists already file with the Federal Election Commission, he said. “I don’t think it’s going to change anything significantly, but I think there’s going to be a frustration about the … increase in paperwork,” Pallasch said. “Folks need to be represented and the lobbyists will figure out the rules and work under them.”

Still, some see extra disclosure as a selling point, a way to assure clients that they won’t end up in a corruption investigation.

“I’m sure we’d prefer not to have additional administrative burdens placed on us,” a lobbyist said, “but in some ways it might help us because we don’t have a history of ethical scandals.”